It's almost a pity that Ms. Lee is such a wordsmith. Sentences such as "On the streets the rain attacked a hurrying umbrella world of wet black tortoise-backs." kept me reading for the sheer joy of the language. Unfortunately, only a few of the characters are three-dimensional and mildly likeable, there is essentially one plot for all the novellas and stories, and this is the most unsexy sex-laden book I've read yet, with loads of romance-novel descriptions and the basic attitude that sex is nasty, wanting sex is weak, and having sex does nothing more than make you evil. For all of her raccoon-shadowed eyes, in these books, she displays a Puritan sense of shame. ( )

Malice in Saffron This was much better than the first story. A gender-bending, medieval tale with no magic but definitely some surreal moments. It's dark and at times shocking but it did at least seem to have a plot and resolution.

Empires of Azure This was a more modern (probably late 18th century but it's never actually mentioned) gender-bending ghost story that also waxes a bit surreal at times but has a discernable beginning and ending. At times it's very hard to tell who's speaking because of the gender ambiguity and the fact that part of it is a journal but not written in first person and it's being read by someone else. I think a straight journal format in first person would have been much more enjoyable.

BOOK OF THE BEAST
These 9 short stories are all linked by a single curse that afflicts a family over decades/centuries of time. This seems to be "Tanith's thing". It's similiar to Tales of the Flat Earth but definitely no where as good (but really not much is in my opinion). I liked the stories and the overall story arc, but they didn't blow me away. I didn't really like the mix of real world references and the fantastic made up parts of the setting. I think I would have liked it more if it would have been about horror set in the real world or set in a completely fabricated fantasy world. The mix just didn't really jive for me. ( )